Kurdish flag flies over government building in Iraqi city Kirkuk

A video was posted on Youtube on the 3rd of May 2017 displaying the Kurdish flag being lofted over the main administrative building of the Iraqi city Kirkuk, home to close to a million people and centre of Iraq’s petroleum industry.

Kurds claim Kirkuk as their cultural capital, and make-up about 48% of the population of the city.

Kurdish independence movements have been crushed by Erdogan’s increased constitutional powers in Turkey and have suffered at the hands of ISIS in Syria, but in Iraq their support has been bolstered and there is talk of an independence referendum being held next year.